{"id":41905,"date":"2018-06-27T08:11:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T07:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelemiliaromagna.it\/balsamic-tales-productive-process\/"},"modified":"2022-12-04T09:02:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T08:02:02","slug":"balsamic-tales-productive-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelemiliaromagna.it\/en\/balsamic-tales-productive-process\/","title":{"rendered":"The Balsamic Tales: the Productive Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0“Balsamic Tales”<\/strong>\u00a0are a series of writings dedicated to\u00a0Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena<\/a>, made from interviews with people who dedicated their lives to this precious dressing, for work or for passion.
\nWe thank PierPaolo Bortolotti, an expert in Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, Emilio Biancardi of\u00a0Acetaia Villa Bianca<\/a>and Massimo Cl\u00f2 of\u00a0Collegio San Carlo di Modena<\/a>, for their willingness and precious information.
\nAfter telling the Origins<\/a>, in this second episode<\/strong> we talk about the Production Process, about how the black gold<\/em> of Modena borns, from cooking to bottling.<\/p>\n

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Despite the primordial origins of Balsamic Vinegar are not known (it is supposed it was born by chance from the mixture of saba and vinegar), and the cooking of must was also done in many other parts of the Roman Empire, Balsamic Vinegar is a product very linked to the Modena area<\/strong> for at least two factors.
\nThe first is the climatic factor<\/strong>: normally the climate of Modena is hot and humid in summer and cold and humid in winter, a climate from which it seems that the acetobacters take great benefit.
\nThe second is a psychological-cultural motivation<\/strong>: the Modena area has always been devoted to the processing of pork, which traditionally “can not be thrown away”; this anti-waste cultural spirit has probably make sure that this type of production has resisted and refined itself over the course of time in the countryside of Modena.<\/p>\n

Let’s see how the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is still made.
\nThe first phase is the cooking of the must. Unlike wine vinegar, which derives from the acetic fermentation of an alcoholic product, ABTM is a first processing product.
\nDuring the cooking the must all the bacteria and enzymes that could lead to a alcoholic transformation are killed, creating a product that from the organic point of view is almost sterile, but at the same time during this phase many other important effects take place<\/strong>: a strong reduction in volume, a large increase in sugars and a change in color, due to the caramelization of sugars. Perhaps not everyone knows that, in fact, the grapes used to produce the ABTM are actually white grapes<\/strong> for the most, such as Trebbiano di Spagna and Trebbiano Modenese (even if also red grapes, such as Ancellotta and Lambrusco, can be used).<\/p>\n

The must is cooked from a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 72 hours, but usually for about 48 hours<\/strong>.
\nWhen the cooked must is ready, it is placed in a barrel where an acetic fermentation is already under way.
\nThe method to prepare a barrel<\/strong> is to blanch the must for a short time, and then left the demijohn in the sun: in this way an acetic fermentation is established in a natural way, without the need to add anything. This product forms the acetic base of the barrel, in which cooked must is added.<\/p>\n

At this point the aging process<\/strong> starts. To better understand the operation we make the assumption of having 3 barrels.
\nIn the year zero we put a certain quantity of cooked must in the barrel number 1. We wait a year and we will obviously have a vinegar aged 1 year. From this barrel we remove no more than the 10-20% of the product remaining from natural evaporation, and we put it in the barrel number 2; once this step has been completed, we fill the barrel number 1 to bring the contents to the right level.
\nWe wait another year and in the barrel number 2 we will have a product of 2 years, while in the barrel number 1 a product of 1 and 2 years; from the barrel number 2 we always take a small part and put it in the barrel number 3, so we’re going to fill the barrel number 2 with a part of the barrel number 1 and to fill the barrel number 1 with new cooked must.
\nWaiting for another year, in the barrel number 3 we will have a product of 3 years, in the barrel number 2 we will have a product of 3 and 2 years, in the barrel number 1 we will have a product of 3, 2 and 1 year.
\nThis is the counting mechanism of the years of the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar.<\/p>\n